The Winchester Model 1911 SL Shotgun was a self-loading, recoil-operated shotgun produced by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company from 1911 to 1925. It was Winchester's first autoloading shotgun, but design flaws kept it from providing competition for the autoloading shotguns made by Remington...

The novel method of charging the 1911 could be potentially lethal if done incorrectly. Shotgun cartridges of the time were often made of paper, which could make the cartridge body vulnerable to expansion when exposed to moisture in large quantities. If this happened in the 1911, the barrel would have to be cycled in order to open the chamber so that the swelled shotgun shell could be removed. Some users mistakenly cycled the barrel by placing the butt of the weapon against the ground and forcing the barrel down. In this position, the muzzle of the weapon would be pointing towards the face of the user, and the swelled shell could fire, injuring or killing the user. This safety issue led to the Model 1911 being nicknamed "the Widowmaker".[4] This situation could be avoided with adherence to safety procedures common to handling firearms, in particular, the practice of keeping the weapon pointed in a safe direction at all times.

Luckily it looks like the article has been amended, because there's currently no mention of that. It just says "the snake was found", crediting him with being its finder... TR is that a day later it was still alive enough to bite someone.

Anyway, enough with that; back to my original comment, which was going to be,

WEST PALM BEACHThis should come as a not-so-surprising revelation: Florida is the epicenter of "strange news" stories.A few years ago, a website analyzed bizarre news stories reported by The Associated Press and found that Florida is the state most likely to spawn stories of unusual human behavior....

Dead snakes can still react to physical stimuli in really odd ways. When my dad was younger, he and some of his friends caught some rattlesnakes, beheaded them, and stuck them in a cooler to be cooked and eaten later. One of the friends opened the cooler to drop in another dead snake, and one of the bodies already in the cooler struck out at his (warm) arm as if to bite him. Of course, being headless, it couldn't actually bite, but it scared the dickens out of the guy, and they all had a good laugh about it. Then, as young guys are wont to do, they recreated the scenario a few more times with more unsuspecting victims.

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

Member of a transdimensional alien race. I eat Reese's Peanut Butter Cups the wrong way.

Dead snakes can still react to physical stimuli in really odd ways. When my dad was younger, he and some of his friends caught some rattlesnakes, beheaded them, and stuck them in a cooler to be cooked and eaten later. One of the friends opened the cooler to drop in another dead snake, and one of the bodies already in the cooler struck out at his (warm) arm as if to bite him. Of course, being headless, it couldn't actually bite, but it scared the dickens out of the guy, and they all had a good laugh about it. Then, as young guys are wont to do, they recreated the scenario a few more times with more unsuspecting victims.

Yeah, this type of reaction typically lasts for no more than ~24 hours. It's the reason I was taught to cut off and bury the head of a dead rattlesnake.

ETA: This should preferably be done with something long handled, like a shovel or machete.